PVE Votes AFJROTC

On a trip to visit the Fairfield High School Air Force Junior ROTC program in January, student cadets decked out in crisp uniforms and a professional demeanor greeted four of us from PVE: Jerry Hedrick, Fred Barthmus, Dick Feaster and Jerry Mulenburg. These same students have honored us by presenting the colors at many PVE patriotic events.

ROTC instructor, Lt. Col. Dave Avery USAF (Ret), and assistant aerospace instructor Chief Master Sgt. Michael Occiano welcomed us. The welcome was followed by a student-led tour of the ROTC study area and the Getz Ready Room, named in honor of PVE residents Bill and Vicki Getz, longtime supporters of the ROTC program at Fairfield High who provide funding for the room.

Each PVE visitor met with a small group of students for ten minutes in a semi-circle of tables, with the PVE residents in the center, to answer questions about some of our past experiences, and to discuss options for their futures. When the time was up, the students rotated to another PVE resident’s semi-circle for another viewpoint until all of the ROTC students had a chance to talk all of the PVE visitors.

The students were polite and curious, with many good questions about their education options and career choices that showed a mature level of interest in their futures. With these young men and women as examples, we should be in good hands in the future.